There is a difference to take into account in these concepts; Let’s start with the definitions.
Grief is a process in situations of profound change, unexpected or planned emotional movements and/or loss of a loved one, death. Furthermore, grief has a beginning and an end process; in one of its stages it goes through a phase of depression, which is overcome in the next phase, giving space to acceptance.
Depression and clinical melancholy It is that diagnosis that requires being addressed beyond the therapeutic word when there are risks or suicidal ideation that endangers the patient’s life.
Those in mourning are those people who carry through their daily lives some situation that they interpret as negative obtaining a victimizing posture that accompanies them in their daily dynamics.
How can we think about the difference between these concepts, which are socially observed permanently?
Distinguishing between depression, grief and mourning
The difference to highlight is the position of the subject in such situations and the time spent in them.
Each situation that we go through in life that modifies our usual state by choice or by surprise, where we must leave something behind to advance to something new, to something different, requires a process of assimilation and accommodation, making it necessary to mourn what is left behind or that is lost. Perhaps the most relevant grief is the loss of a loved one, the death.
Each grief goes through five stages, according to the research of Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler Ross. After a certain time has passed and having gone through them, little by little contact with life is resumed, housing in the being the beautiful memory of what was lost.
The stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance
Pain passes through the subject completely in moments of loss and profound changes disconnection from reality and isolation are frequently observed when grieving.
1. Denial
Denial is associated with that defense mechanism where you cannot see things as they could happen, denying what happened In order to continue, the state of shock is currently present.
2. Anger
The wrath, It is the anger associated with frustrations and feelings of helplessness for not having been able to modify the consequences of such loss.
3. Negotiation
Negotiation is trying psychically and with enthusiasm return to the life you had before said loss searching and repeating phrases like: if I had carried out such an action… If I had not gone… Remaining in those capsules for a certain time.
4. Depression
Depression, all appear feelings of sadness, uncertainty, uneasiness, emptiness, loneliness and disconnection from reality. At this stage you can visualize what happened more clearly and with a lot of pain you move on to the acceptance stage.
5. Acceptance
This stage begins to be able to look at reality in another way, from the front, the subjective position changes and looking without veils in the eyes begins to be part of reality. With this process, the beautiful memory of what was lost is allowed to be installed.
What is the difference between grief and depression?
On some occasions and with certain psychic characteristics pre-established by structure in the person, when going through the stages of grief, the subject remains anchored in the depressive phase, settling there to give entity and strength to such diagnosis.
Clinical depression sets in, with the disconnection from reality becoming deeper and more permanent losing daily dynamics, such as social contacts, difficulties concentrating, insomnia, anxiety, apathy, apathy with significant reluctance.
In these cases, the patient must be accompanied in an interdisciplinary manner with a specialist in the area of ​​psychiatry, with therapeutic treatment not being enough. The psychotropic drug will surely be supplied by the treating professional, this being necessary to generate the connection again and resume speaking. In this way, the patient’s mental health is addressed in a joint and interdisciplinary manner.
In mourning over the loss of loved ones, in the face of death, The representations that had been projected with that person are of great suffering, and the first round of the annual clock is the most complex to navigate. The empty chair, the first birthday in absence, such a party and the emptiness of those who are not there, are representations that remain hollow and without space.
The mourning patient is one who is taken by some initial situation that he interpreted as negative, sad or devastating and makes that sensation or interpretation a permanent company. Walk through life with heaviness In everything he does, although he continues with his activities, he does so from a victimizing, obligatory, sad position.
They are those patients with repeated speeches, in which you hear: Everything is going wrong for me… I’m not lucky… Nobody loves me… They are merged into these speeches without a record of what was expressed, without a question, or a search for how to get out of there.
In the case of grief, therapeutic treatment, family and social support network are support factors to the person who suffers from it, putting that pain and sadness into words in order to go through it and elaborate it, waiting and accompanying the internal times of each patient, listening in a passive and alert position to try to ensure that the stages can pass and not be lodge inside the being.
In the case of clinical depression, in addition to what was mentioned in the previous paragraph, as we already said, we must make a referral for psychiatric consultation to evaluate the possibility of prescribing the appropriate psychotropic drug, thus helping and preventing the transition to action with ideations. that manifest themselves.
In the case of patients with mourning characteristics, We work from the therapeutic position trying to bring the patient to the position of desiring subject so that you can consider what your desire is and be able to generate enthusiasm and empathy with life from that place.
It should be remembered that each patient is unique with a particular life history that must be taken into account when approaching different treatments.
Observing, accompanying and respecting the internal and specific times in each case. Accompanying people to go through these processes is a beautiful therapeutic task.
